Chapter 4

Karl's POV

I walked into the gathering that was waiting for me. It was no longer only the council members that were present, the rest of the Pack members were there as well. I could see the members of my pack there too.

I looked around and noticed that Princess Lyra was not yet here. I wondered if she was always this late to every gathering or she was just trying to piss me off right now.

I stood in front of the burning fire as I waited for her to join me there.

It was at the Moon fire altar, a very sacred one, it is not always used, except in cases like this and it was always a dangerous affair.

The small chants from the crowd made me turn and there she was. I was upset that she had kept me waiting but I was startled by how pretty she looked, I could not deny that part.

I turned and faced the fire. She stood beside me and said nothing. There was no apology and that made me cringe at how disrespectful she is going to be.

I doubt I would allow that.

" Thank you everyone for joining us to witness today. This is a marriage that will bring peace between the two packs and it is very important to us" the council leader said.

He was holding a bowl in his hands as he stood beside the fire as well. The bowl in his hands was a sacred one that could only be touched by the leaders alone.

" You have to cut your palms, as a sign of agreement," he said.

I shivered and it was the first time, I wondered if I was going to go on with this arrangement.

I looked at Princess Lyra, she was shaking as well, and her face looked displeased.

I looked at her wrist and saw a faint line there. I gasped, it was the same line that had appeared on my wrist last night. I hated it because I knew what that meant.

" Go ahead" he stretched out a knife and handed it to me.

I took it and cut myself, the blood on my palm was visible and I had to hold my hands still so the blood drops into the sacred bowl.

There was this anger I instantly felt, it made me remember my dead brother and that alone gave me the courage and reason to go on with the ritual.

" Your turn" he passed the knife to Princess Lyra.

She took it with shaky hands and then raised her head up to search for her father.

A weak smile appeared on her face as she saw her father. I scoffed, she was wasting our time and I need to be out of here.

She cut herself and held out her hand in the air, so the blood dropped into the sacred bowl.

" Hold your hands together so the cuts meet," he said.

I turned and faced her, her pretty face was a charm on its own and I found myself struggling to concentrate.

I stretched out my hands to her, she did the same and placed her cut palm on mine.

A spark was felt and I knew she felt it as well. The fire began to burn so well.

Our wolves began to collide and I was struggling to breathe. It seemed the two wolves were trying to become one and we were the ones being affected by it.

I could not make a move as I felt heavy and I was unable to lift my body.

" There are tears in your eyes," I said to her.

It was the first time I was speaking to her and I felt kind of bound already.

" Yeah, this hurts me so much," she said as she cleaned her eyes.

Her voice was amazing, I must confess.

" You will be fine" I tried to be sympathetic towards her even though I was not meant to be.

She is the daughter of my enemy and she will forever remain that way.

I pulled my hands away from her and that made me hit the floor.

My eyes became close as I tried to regain balance, no one helped me up from the ground, they left me there.

Where I laid was sacred and not everyone can come there. I opened my eyes and looked around, princess Lyra was also on the floor, she must have felt that force as well.

The sky began to get dark even though it was still morning. The sun began to fade away.

" This is a sign that our sacrifice was accepted and peace shall return to us" the council leader said.

I could feel it, I stood up from the ground and helped Lyra stand up as well.

The dark clouds did not get clearer, it was still the way it was and that scared us a bit.

It was meant to get clear but it came with an unusual rush from the river instead.

We left the fireplace and went to the river to see what was going on.

I immediately suspected that what we had just done was a disaster.

I looked at Lyra to be sure that she felt the same way and even though she did not feel that way, I was going to go with my belief that what we have just done was dangerous and will only bring doom to us in the coming year.

The very water that was rushing out so much was the same place my brother was killed, and it was the same place her mother was killed as well.

I heard her sniffing and that made me quickly turn to look at her. There were tears in her eyes again, maybe it was because of her mother, but it did not bother me.

I knew for a fact that my brother was not happy with me, he must have felt betrayed that I was joining the enemy, but little did he know that I was only luring the enemy to their death.